UCR October 2011-December 2011 (FY 2012, Q1)

A Snapshot of Congestion Trends in the U.S. for October 2011 through December 2011.

Congested Hours

Average duration of weekday congestion

-22 minutes
from last year

Oct-Dec 2011: 4:30Oct-Dec 2010: 4:52

Travel Time Index

Peak period travel times vs. off-peak travel times

-1 point
from last year

Oct-Dec 2011: 1.22Oct-Dec 2010: 1.23

Planning Time Index

Unreliability (variability) of travel

-3 points
from last year

Oct-Dec 2011: 1.52Oct-Dec 2010: 1.55

Summary of Nationwide Trends

Congested hours improved (22 minutes shorter), the travel time index improved slightly (by 1 point), and the planning time index improved by 3 points. All measures compared the most recent 3 months in 2011 to the same 3 months in 2010.

Eight of the 18 cities showed improvements in all three measures.

Six of the 18 cities showed worsening conditions in all three measures.

Five of the 18 cities had stable or mixed results among the three measures.

Congestion and Reliability Trends for Each UCR City

October 2011 through December 2011 Quarterly Urban Congestion Report Compared to the same Three Months Last Year

City

Congested Hours

Travel Time Index

Planning Time Index

% Change in VMT

% Usable Data

2011

Change from 2010

2011

Change from 2010

2011

Change from 2010

Atlanta, GA

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

Boston, MA

5:37

+0:01

1.32

+2

1.78

+2

-2%

100%

Chicago, IL

7:13

+0:14

1.35

+3

1.77

+8

-2%

77%

Detroit, MI

2:53

-0:14

1.12

0

1.39

-4

0%

100%

Houston, TX

3:46

+0:17

1.26

+2

1.62

+11

0%

83%

Los Angeles, CA

5:53

-1:21

1.29

-5

1.61

-9

0%

100%

Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN

3:43

-1:00

1.18

-5

1.44

-29

+3%

98%

Oklahoma City, OK

1:55

+0:21

1.07

+1

1.21

+3

-2%

100%

Orange County, CA

3:57

-0:48

1.22

-4

1.51

-13

-2%

100%

Philadelphia, PA

5:23

-0:25

1.27

-1

1.67

-5

0%

100%

Phoenix, AZ

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

Pittsburgh, PA

6:28

-0:13

1.26

+5

1.59

+13

+1%

100%

Portland, OR

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

Providence, RI

3:46

+0:46

1.15

+1

1.45

+7

0%

100%

Riverside – San Bernardino, CA

3:03

-0:32

1.13

-2

1.34

-7

+2%

100%

Sacramento, CA

1:59

-0:32

1.10

-1

1.26

-5

-1%

100%

St. Louis, MO

3:54

+2:07

1.10

+1

1.31

+5

-4%

93%

Salt Lake City, UT

1:33

-2:22

1.04

-2

1.15

-13

+1%

98%

San Antonio, TX

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

San Diego, CA

2:38

-0:13

1.14

-1

1.39

-3

-1%

100%

San Francisco, CA

3:36

+0:08

1.18

+1

1.40

0

-3%

100%

Seattle, WA

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

n.a.

Tampa, FL

3:05

+0:40

1.13

0

1.31

0

-2%

100%

Notes:
Green bolded values (with – sign) indicate improving conditions; red italics (with + sign) indicate worsening conditions.
"n.a." indicates that data was not available or was of insufficient quality.
Comparison of 2011 to 2010 is for the same three-month period (October - December).